Farmers wage Wetland battle

The historic Talangama Wewa is under threat. Kumudini Hettiarachchi reports

He sits on a bench pondering over the fate of his beloved Talangama wewa and its environs. The tranquillity and serenity broken only by bird-calls cannot still the turbulence within him today.

For, the wewa which helps the 175 farmers of the area to irrigate their land, brings them a bountiful crop of paddy from around 200 acres and calms their frazzled lives by its beauty, is under threat.

This is why 68-year-old E. Percy Perera will fight tooth and nail to protect the wewa in the Madiwela catchment area and its surrounding Wetlands. “This may be the only place in the Western Province where children can actually see an ancient pita vana ( for the outflow of excess water) cut through a kalu gala (rock),” he says.

Percy and the other farmers are urging the authorities to raise the level of the spill- basin built in the early 1990s which is diverting water to the Kelani River to stem the flooding of Colombo.

The area is not only assailed by this issue – there are also alleged moves by the Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation (SLLRDC) to dig up part of the Wetland and create a man-made lake, bund and all, residents said.

As Percy’s visha vaidya (snake-bite specialist) Seeya K.P.P. Nanayakkara did back in the 1950s, planning the water release to the rice-fields and protecting the ela-wel, Percy has taken upon himself to keep tabs on what is happening at the wewa and guide or fight the authorities whenever the tank or its environs is in jeopardy.

The Talangama wewa originally covering 44 acres is believed to have been built by Parakrama Bahu VI during the Kotte King- dom. But, smiles Percy taking us down the pathways of history, the tank was not built primarily for irrigation but to bathe the court elephants. The elephants had been taken to a place close to Malabe junction, dubbed athun kedeniya, to be fed and by evening given a dip at the wewa which was the palace thatakaya, before being taken back.

Gradually, with encroachment the tank had shrunk to 20 acres, says Percy.

By 1989-90, when the need arose for more water to be retained in the wewa, the old spill-level was raised by 18”, explains Percy, adding that the tank then reclaimed more than 10 acres of its lost area.

The Colombo Flood Retention Plan to stymie flooding followed, with the SLLRDC putting forward a scheme to construct the spill-basin with a 20” depth.

“We feared for the tank,” he recalls, “for up to then even if there had been a drought for six months, the wewa always had water because it’s fed by ulpath (springs).”

Before the spill-basin was constructed, if there were heavy rains and the tank had excess water, it would spill over the bund and the natural cycle took over with the Wetlands absorbing it. We could also open the pita vana, he says.

But the protests were not heeded and even the plea that instead of a permanent spill-basin, there should be sluice gates which could shut the outflow of water was ignored, laments Percy. “They also cut a ca- nal through high ground in the Amaragoda area,” he says, warning that if there are torrential rains the water will come back along the canal to the lake surrounding Parliament and Parliament would get submerged.

The spill-basin with the water flowing out slowly but surely from the tank has given a raw deal to the farmers. Whereas those days they were able to do both the Yala in April and the Maha in October, if the rains don’t come now no water can be given twice or thrice, grumbles Percy, citing how “kumburu sawuththuvuna” during the Yala of 2011.

The diversion has also caused some parts of the tank to dry up with invasive plant species (such as wel atha) spreading rapidly and the Wetland could very well disappear along with the birds. With the destruction of plants, fewer birds like the kithala ( induru kukula) are seen, because they lay their delicate eggs on the nelum-leaf, he says, ecstatic on seeing a flock of seru.

Both groups of migrants, which come avisiting either the north or the south of the country can usually be seen here, says Percy. Backed by the villagers, Percy’s action plan for his heritage is simple: Raise the spill-basin to store more water in the wewa and if there is excess water after the rains let it flow from the ancient pita vana and through the village like it has done for centuries; clear the invasive plants; prevent land-grabs from the wel-yaya and the wewa reservations; and crackdown on rubbishdumping and waste-water being channelled into the wewa.

Will Percy succeed in his battle to save the Talangma wewa, its environs (declared a protected area) and the intricate eco-systems while engaging in paddy cultivations like his forefathers did?

The answer lies with the bureaucrats. When contacted, an Irrigation Department source said the proposals are being studied.